The present invention relates generally to the field of industrial and utility power generation vapor condensers and, in particular, to a new and useful heat pipe vent condenser (HPVC) integrated into a heat pipe steam condenser for the condensation of steam and concurrent removal of unwanted, non-condensable gases.
Vent condensers are used to separate and drain the condensable portion of a multi-component vapor flow. Non-condensable gases are exhausted from the vent condenser. Vent condensers typically have a shell and tube or a U-tube heat exchanger with a coolant flow over the tube side to condense the condensable portion of the multi-component vapor flow.
A heat pipe steam condenser has several modules of heat pipes stacked in series to receive a flow of steam. As the working vapor, usually in the form of steam, moves through the modules, water vapor content in the gas space is reduced through condensation to water on the outside surfaces of the heat pipes at the evaporator ends thereof, while the concentration of non-condensable gases increases.
At one or more points within the heat pipe steam condenser, usually at the back-end of the last condenser module where the non-condensable gas fraction is greatest, the non-condensable gases are aspirated through a separate vent condenser. The gases are aspirated prior to exhausting these gases to a downstream eductor or other suitable device for maintaining the non-condensable gas flow through the vent condenser. The purpose of the vent condenser is to remove as much of the working vapor as possible from the vapor flow mixture that the operating temperature of the heat pipe will permit. This minimizes the energy and flow requirements of the eductor and minimizes the working vapor loss from the heat pipe steam condenser.
All known prior vent condensers have been installed externally to the heat pipe steam condenser. Such vent condensers normally use a coolant supply, such as cold water, to condense the working vapor on heat exchanger surfaces before exhausting non-condensable gas portions from the system.